By POTIPHER TEMBO –

IT is unlawful to start a riot or any misdemeanour based on rumours in which innocent people and those accused of committing any crime without proof are harmed or killed.
Even if some people were involved in criminal activities in which the law has to take its course, it is wrong for people to take the law in their own hands and mete out punishment to the alleged culprits.
According to the British law, which Zambia inherited many years ago, everyone is innocent until proved guilty.
This is opposed to the other law which other countries, especially the franco-phone countries adhere to, which states that everyone is guilty until proven innocent.
But this being the case, it is saddening that for many years, many Zambians seem to be acquainted with taking the law in their own hands by meting out punishment to the alleged criminals whom in many cases they have clobbered to death, but later regretting after realising that the alleged victims were innocent.
For some time now, there have been cases in which people, especially the aged ones, have been beaten after being accused of practising witchcraft, while some have been slain and their property destroyed.
In recent times, there have emerged accusations in which business executives are being accused of practising macabre rituals in which they are said to be involved by killing people whose body parts are removed to be used in boosting their businesses.
A lot of business executives, who seem to be excelling in their businesses are being accused of  ‘getting rich quick’, but though these accusations have been common, the people who accuse these business executives have failed to provide proof or evidence to convince the law enforcers about their allegations.
As a result of these unfounded allegations, some business executives have lost their lives, while their businesses have been destroyed through rioting and looting.
Recently in Ndola, there was a rumour that children were missing from their homes because they were being abducted for rituals performed by business executives who were killing them for the body parts to boost their businesses.
One of the prominent business executives, Mathews Mulenga, alias Real Masters, became the latest victim of lawlessness emanating from rumour mongering when some Ndola residents rioted and looted goods from his shops worth several thousands of Kwacha.
The riots were sparked off when rumour circulated that Police in Ndola’s Kaloko Township had apprehended a man who was allegedly sent by Mr Mulenga to abduct four children for ritual killings.
According to Mr Mulenga, he had just returned from abroad on the day of the riots.
Mr Mulenga said he was setting up his exhibitions at the just ended Zambia International Trade Fair (ZITF) when the kerfuffle started.
He explained that  he was called by his workers that there was a rumour that he had sent a man in Kaloko Township to abduct children and that the man he had sent had been arrested and so the residents were angry with him.
“On my way to the shops, I saw a mob in Masala near the Kafubu River chanting ‘Real Master, Real Master. I thought they were fans of my music so I even slowed down and hooted to acknowledge them when some of them started throwing stones at my car,” explained Mr Mulenga.
It was at that point that he realised that the rumour was serious and he drove to the Police station for protection.
Mr Mulenga said it had not been easy after that, with authorities and friends  advising him against moving freely until the matter was settled.
He said he did not know the source of the rumour just like he did not know anything about what was being said about him.
Mr Mulenga lamented that he has lost hundreds of thousands of Kwacha after his shops were looted and damaged in the riots.
“I am still assessing the exact loss in stock and damaged buildings, but it is in hundreds of thousands of Kwacha,” said Mr Mulenga.
The riot, which started from Kaloko Township, saw the rioters set off for the central business district where Mr Mulenga’s shops were located and looted goods including cellular phones, fridges, bicycles and sound systems.
Business in the city came to a halt when scores of residents took part in the riot leaving some police posts damaged and vehicles burned. Some shops, banks and the main bus station were closed.
The riot, which started around mid-morning from Kaloko, spread through Kabushi, Masala and Twapia townships.
Police fired teargas to disperse rioters who torched vehicles parked at Kaloko Police Post, while  blocking roads with logs, rocks and burning tyres.
After the rumour, which spread like a wild fire and degenerated into riots, Copperbelt Police chief, Joyce Kasosa, dispelled the allegation and said Police did not have any person remanded for abducting children and had not recorded any cases of child abductions or sudden deaths.
The rumour was said to have spread after word went round via a local radio station that someone from within Ndola had been arrested by Police for abducting toddlers to get private body parts.
“That information is baseless and unfounded because Police have not arrested anyone abducting children let alone received reports of children going missing.
“Responsibility to factual reporting before information is published must be observed because alarming citizens unnecessarily is a recipe for anarchy,” said Ms Kasosa.
She said Police had the role to maintain public law and order, thus no individuals involved in malicious acts would be tolerated.
Ms Kasosa explained that during the riot, the Kabushi Extension Police Post was burnt to ashes, while two others in Kaloko and Chipulukusu were damaged by the unruly residents.
“Property worth millions of Kwacha was burnt at Kaloko Police Post, private property and goods were looted and some destroyed,” she said.
Copperbelt Province Minister, Mwenya Musenge, described the riotous behaviour by some Ndola residents as unfortunate and demanded for a thorough investigation into the matter.
“It is quite unfortunate that property has been damaged. We as a province have never received those reports of kids being abducted and private parts being removed. Even Police have no such information,” said Mr Musenge.
Home Affairs Minister, Ngosa Simbyakula has cautioned people against taking the law in their own hands.
Dr Simbyakula said such conduct by people to take the law in their own hands arising from rumours was not good because it leads to destruction of property for innocent people and worse still, loss of life.
He advised that the best people could do whenever there was suspicion of people being up to no good is to inform the Police instead of resorting to taking the law in their own hands by rioting and looting public property.
Dr Simbyakula said Government would not condone this kind of lawlessness because innocent people ended up being victims of such riots.
He said it was regrettable that property worth millions of Kwacha was destroyed in Ndola because of a riot based on rumours and similarly was the case in Chambishi Township last year when a business executive and members of his family were hacked to death on suspicion of being involved in ritual practices.
“When people are aggrieved, the best course to take is to inform the police rather than taking the law in their own hands. We have seen arising from rumours property being destroyed and in some instances people getting killed and this is not good because when you are caught, you end up losing,” said Dr Simbyakula and directed Police to ensure that all those caught engaging in acts of taking the law in their own hands were dealt with firmly by the law.
During a mass at Chifubu Catholic Church in Ndola recently, Parish Priest Father Salangeta cautioned people, especially Christians, to desist from rumour mongering which resulted in violent activities such as rioting, looting and killings.
Fr Salangeta, in his sermon, told Parishioners that it was wrong for people to act on rumours and urged them to get facts before they involved themselves in activities which were ungodly.
“Some of you supported that riot based on rumours. You even involved yourselves in looting. How can you as Christians riot and loot things just because you heard rumours. It is wrong to accuse people to be involved in evil things when they worked hard to succeed in their businesses,” advised Fr Salangeta.
But despite the warnings and advice by Police,  politicians and the Church, the scourge of rioting and looting resulting from the spread of rumours continues to recur.
Three years ago, six people in Mansa, Luapula Province, were killed in riots sparked by rumours of ritual murders in the district.
The then Inspector General of Police, Francis Kabonde, said the riots in which other people had been injured and public and private property destroyed, had been caused by rumours that some prominent business executives were engaging in ritual murders for body parts that were allegedly used in magic to enhance their businesses.
Mr Kabonde said the rumour was false as one of the two brutally murdered people had been identified as a Grade 12 pupil at a local school, while the other one was a local farmer.
Mr Kabonde stated that what was sad about the rumours was that there had been no report on any person killed in the district for the reasons being given.
“I must warn all those involved that they will be arrested and charged for murder and damage to property,” warned Mr Kabonde.
After the investigations in the Mansa riots, the Human Rights Commission (HRC) said the people killed in Mansa on suspicion of ritual killings were innocent of the alleged crime.
In the report after concluding investigations into the disturbances, HRC spokesperson, Samuel Kasankha advised Zambians to follow the standard human rights and legal processes as provided by local and international laws in places where people had evidence that ritual murders or similar unacceptable practices had taken place.
Mr Kasankha urged people to discard any cultural practices including those that led to termination of people’s lives without subjecting them to due process of the law.
The commissioner said riots by their nature tended to cause destruction to property of people who were unrelated to the issues people may be aggrieved about.
He said Irrational actions like riots should not be used to deprive others of their rights and reiterated the commission’s stand that those who rioted or caused riots were a threat to public order, security of the nation as well as to the enjoyment of human rights by others and that Police should pursue them in accordance with the dictates of the law.
Two years ago, Police in Mufulira pursued some Kantanshi residents who were alleged to have destroyed two houses and a shop belonging to a local business man whom they accused of practising satanism.
The residents also damaged a Police post after the business executive was whisked away to safety.
The list of cases of riots, looting and killings emanating from rumour mongering is endless and there is need for the powers that be to do something to stop the vice as rumour mongering can be devastating.